Smooth Sowthistle on the A26

The Smooth Sowthistle, Sonchus oleraceus, is a plant that I commonly see, but am often unsure of! It is an erect annual, rarely biennial, that may often reach one and a half metres high. It is very common throughout the British Isles, on wasteland, arable, and wood edges. It may be commoner than spiny in coastal districts, less so at higher altitude.

It may be eaten as a rather tough salad leaf, rather bland, or possibly cooked like spinach.

A fairly good character is the hairless nature of the mature leaves, which are a dull (not very shiny) grey-green, and lightly toothed - but clearly lacking the crisped double-toothed spininess of Sonchus asper.

The stem is smooth, and there are no masses of glandular black (spiny) or yellow (perennial) hairs on the capitula, although a few scattered hairs might be present. However, there may be some woolly hairy patches just below the capitula - referred to in Stace as the phyllaries perhaps?  Like all the sowthistles, the stems are hollow and release latex when bruised or cut.

The leaves may be slightly hairy, but only when young. The leaf tips are shaped generally like triangular arrow heads. The leaf bases are pressed around the stem on each side, and the basal tips reflexed so that the pointed tips then point outwards, as seen in this helpful photo from the University of Texas.

The leaves are very variable in shape but often the basal lobes of the leaf (ending in the auricles?) are relatively large, as in this photo from the University of Graz.

The uppermost younger leaves may well be rather simple toothed rounded-triangular in shape, as in this photo from Visoflora.

The very lowest leaves may have a long petiolate base.

The flowers are generally pale yellow a little like the marsh sowthistle, (perennial = deep yellow, spiny = deep golden yellow), and produced from June until October. In the West of Scotland however they may be a darker yellow in colour, like the other species.

The capitula should be about 20-25 mm across, 10 - 15 mm high, often "sowthistle" urn-shaped when closed. The achenes should be yellow and transversely wrinkled (rugose), although I cannot actually see this in the photos on the web.

Down to East Lock

There were a lot of Wheat Stem Borer, Cephus pygmaeus, sheltering, and in one case mating, on the buttercups in the field margin of the wheat field. Not a major pest perhaps, but still likely to have an impact on the harvest.

I was very glad to see a female Platycheirus, perhaps P. scutatus, from the shape of the abdominal markings in the same field margin, along with a tiny Nomada, perhaps Nomada flavoguttata.

Geranium dissectum, Ranunculus acris, repens and bulbosa together with Ficaria were all seen. Filipendula, Hypericum maculatum (?), Green Field Speedwell, Veronica agrestis, Cocksfoot, Yorkshire Fog, Holcus lanata,  there were a lot of Chaffinches, some Skylarks, and one Cuckoo. 

A brief return to Beacon Wood

I went back to Beacon Wood for a brief walk with Monty, driving through a sharp rainstorm just before I arrived. The weather improved greatly during the visit.

As I arrived at the clearing with the picnic table, I saw a fat wasp on the leaves low down on the treeline, which turned out to be Chlorotoxum cautum, a wasp-mimic hoverfly.

A quick whizz around a breezy access trail and reservoir

At nearly 4 pm I set off with Monty through the village to the start of the Access Trail, across Great Court, then down towards Victoria Lane, Malt Cottage and the Reservoir, then back along the River Bourne, the Green Lane to the Red Pond and then reversing our course back through Great Court to home, getting back towards 6 pm.

I found a Periphyllus aphid species on the Sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus, on the Access Trail together with aestivating nymphs, and again on one of the trees just downstream of Goldhill Mill, together with a small midge species. On the English or Atinian Elm, Ulmus minor 'Atinia', there was evidence of a leaf-curling aphid, presumably originally caused by Eriosoma ulmi, but now apparently inhabited by a "normal" green aphid.

There were apparent fledgelings for the Greylag/Whiter Goose, and for another pair of Greylags on the reservoir. A small group of Goldfinches were in the tall hedge running South of the reservoir to the River Bourne. I saw one Swallow over the field to the East of the Bourneside bridge, and one Swift over the Acccess Trail. There were Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Robins and Blackbirds along the Green Lane section of the Access Trail. Woodpigeons and Chaffinches were everywhere.

On the bank of the reservoir, the trefoils were in good flower. On the way back along the Church footpath I checked the Bittercress on the side of the tarmac - and it was Hairy Bittercress of course, with only four stamens. There was also Green Alkanet and Common Fumitory along the same path.

Rushing around Dene Park with Monty

A lovely old Peacock butterfly on the path through Knight's Wood, obviously been through the wars, having been repeatedly pecked!

Duke of Burgundy and Dingy Skipper at Denge Wood

This was a brilliant British Butterfly Conservation Society Kent Branch trip, and it was particularly nice to see Peter and Margaret again.

I stopped at the pull-in in the Northern half of the woods first, and found a nice Nomad Bee, Nomada flava or panzeri, generally regarded as two common but indistinguishable species.

There was also a lovely Common Carder Bumblebee, Bombus pascuorum close by, nectaring on the Yellow Archangel.

This is a better photo of the Yellow Archangel, Lamium galeobdolon, just further along.

Sometimes early Hazel leaves show these purple markings, I think.

There was also a neat spider,

The group did see some Dingy Skippers, including a fresh mating pair, but I only caught a glimpse of this apparently very worn individual:

There were quite a few Green Tiger Beetles, Cicindela campestris, on the paths. Both of these appear to be males, as you can see at least the ivory-coloured left-hand mandibles quite clearly. The second male has fewer cream spots on the elytra.

There was a nice Rove Beetle on a bonfire site on Bonsai Bank, seemed to be way out of the damp habitat associated with this genus, particularly Paederus riparius, but it might still be Paederus littoralis I suppose, or maybe another species.

Throughout the day we saw Brimstone Butterflies, Gonopteryx rhamni, and I caught this battered male(?) trying to snack on a primrose flower.

Hoverflies and more Whimbrels at Cliffe

As on several occasions, one of the two Eristalinus species was present, and this time I was fairly sure it was Eristalinus aeneus. I saw two females, apparently. The abdomen was fairly glossy over the entire surface, and the eyes were not very hairy, with no evidence of hairs below their midline.